I agree, MegMeg. In part, this is a many-headed hydra that has been created because of "student empowerment" albeit in a misguided form-- and just as critically, burgeoning enrollment numbers, particularly at public institutions.
I went to a small public college (not at all selective, but STEM majors were pushed pretty hard), and my DH to a public research powerhouse, of substantial size even back in the day. While this current situation is alien to both of us, there are elements of it that feel familiar to him on that basis-- those are not (in general) the kinds of things that we and our DD are finding off-putting about this.
I think that we are the ones finding it depressing in an existential sense. We are definitely believers in higher ed as education-- not as "job training." This doesn't feel especially like education to either one of us. It feels like a processing step.
